A bit late for x-mas, sorry.
Onto the fake patchnote bandwagon we go!
(New!) Vote for your favorites.
http://strawpoll.me/978841
This will only include my opinions over thousands of hours and multiple tournaments over the course of playing Thief competitively. I won’t be attempting to analyze underlying problems of other classes but instead more deeply analyze Thief as only I and few others can.
I’ve given this a ton of thought over the past few days, about 6 hours writing up the first draft (the original document was ~5x as long including in-depth analysis but I thought ‘meh, tl;dr.’). But if this even sparks one idea for change for some red out there, it’ll be worth it.
I present; Jump.doc.
http://pastebin.com/dvMYb77F
Goals: Massively raise the skill floor to be efficient with S/D builds along with nerfs aimed at endurance regen, tone down Trickery builds, and greatly promote build diversity across multiple weapon skills, utilities, and traits as well as tackling “1-button” playstyles present in sets like S/x and P/P increasing depth. And to also rework the Shadow Arts traitline discouraging camping stealth for extreme periods of time making it more of an attractive choice in PvP.
Thief
Skills
Disabling Shot – Added a ~0.15 second aftercast to add counterplay and discourage endless chaining of this skill for evasion purposes.
Headshot – Daze duration increased to the original amount (pre-nerf) when interrupting the target.
Dancing Dagger – Increased cost from 3 to 5 initiative. Damage increased by 33% (up to 66% from 50% of the original). Now stuns first foe hit when hit from behind for 0.25 seconds. Increased aftercast by 50%. (optional:) If stun is triggered, no additional bounces are applied.
Heartseeker – Increased aftercast by 30%.
Cloak and Dagger – Increased cast time by 10%. Decreased aftercast by 33%. Increased damage to the original amount up from 66% to match WvW and PvE.
[Leaping] Death Blossom – This skill now ignores aftercasts and cancels other skills in queue (except for Death Blossom). Increased initiative cost by 1 to 5 from 4. Increased damage by 25%. Reduced bleed duration by a similar amount.
Tactical Strike – Increased daze duration by 0.5 seconds.
Larcenous Strike – If target has 4 or more boons, this skill steals 2 boons.. Decreased damage by 10%. Increased cost from 2 to 4 initiative. This ability now restores 2 initiative upon hitting a target.
Pistol Whip – Increased damage by 15%. Increased initiative cost by 1 to 6 from 5. This ability now dazes for half duration when hitting from the front and stuns when hitting from the side or behind the foe.
Vital Shot – Increased rate of fire by 20%, with focus on decreasing the aftercast.
Unload – Reduced base damage by 25%. Damage is now increased by 15% of the new base damage per condition on target (eg. 109% original damage at 3 conditions). Increased initiative cost from 5 to 6. Now chains into “Laced Shot” for 5 seconds.
(New) Laced Shot – Stays toggled for 5 seconds. Cost 3 initiative. 0.50 second cast. 214 base damage. 100% projectile finisher. 900 range. Transfers 1 condition to your target.
Infiltrator’s Return – Increased initiative cost from 2 to 3. Cast time reduced to 0.10 seconds from 0.25 seconds. This ability now ignores aftercasts and cancels skills in queue.
Utilities
Blinding Powder – This skill is now a stunbreak. Increased cooldown to 50 seconds from 40.
Ice Drake Venom – combined with Spider Venom. The next three attacks chill and poison foes.
Scorpion Wire (Thanks to ensoriki)- Improved heatseeking to 100%. Now steals 1 boon (Applied before pull, same priority list as Bountiful Theft). Increased cooldown from 20 to 45 seconds.
Roll for Initiative – Reduced cooldown to 45 seconds from 60.
Infiltrator’s Signet – Increased cooldown to 35 seconds from 30.
Tripwire – Increased damage by 250% to 256 from 73. Cooldown lowered to 25 from 30.
Needle Trap – Increased damage by 250% to 283 from 81. Cooldown lowered to 25 from 30.
Ambush Trap – Thief’s health increased by 33%. Cooldown lowered to 25 from 30.
Shadow Refuge – Increased cooldown to 70 from 60.
Shadowstep – Increased cooldown to 55 from 50.
Heals
Hide in Shadows – Now removes torment.
Signet of Malice – Reduced active base heal by 50%. Your next attack will steal 50% damage dealt as health. Application is removed upon miss. Increased cooldown to 25 seconds from 15.
Elites
Dagger Storm – reduced cooldown to 75 seconds from 90. Increased rate of fire (and therefore dps) by 25%. Decreased duration from 8 to 6 seconds.
Thieves Guild – reduced cooldown to 165 seconds from 180. Increased Thieves’ health by 33%.
Winner of Curse’s NA Masters Tournament
twitch.tv/loljumper
(edited by Jumper.9482)